Browsing by Author "Liu, Shih-Jen"

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Glucocorticoids may compromise the effect of gefitinib in non-small cell lung cancer
(2016-12-27)
Wang, Hsian-Yu
;
Chang, Yu-Ling
;
Cheng, Chun-Chun
;
Chao, Min-Wu
;
Lin, Su-I
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have shown remarkable benefits in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with drug-sensitive mutations in the EGFR gene. Responsive patients are usually continuously prescribed with TKIs until disease progression. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are potent homeostasis maintaining drugs and are frequently used in cancer patients to alleviate discomforts caused by anti-cancer therapies. Several previous studies reported that concomitant use of GCs may compromise the efficacy of chemo-therapeutics in patients with solid tumors. Little is known in the concomitant use of target therapy with GCs in treating NSCLC. In this study, we hypothesized that concomitant use of GCs in EGFR-TKI therapy may be detrimental and addressed this issue using cell cultures and xenograft studies followed by a retrospective population study based on data from the Taiwan national health insurance system. In cell cultures and xenograft studies, GCs were shown to unequally compromise the anti-cancer efficacy of TKIs in both PC9 and NCI-H1975 NSCLC cells models. In the retrospective population study, patients with similar disease status that were co-medicated with GCs had a significantly higher risk of disease progression.
Liposome-based polymer complex as a novel adjuvant: enhancement of specific antibody production and isotype switch
(2012)
Chen, Chia-Hung
;
Lin, Yu-Ling
;
Liu, Yen-Ku
;
He, Pei-Juin
;
Lin, Ching-Min
The aim of vaccination is to induce appropriate immunity against pathogens. Antibody-mediated immunity is critical for protection against many virus diseases, although it is becoming more evident that coordinated, multifunctional immune responses lead to the most effective defense. Specific antibody (Ab) isotypes are more efficient at protecting against pathogen invasion in different locations in the body. For example, compared to other Ab isotypes, immunoglobulin (Ig) A provides more protection at mucosal areas. In this study, we developed a cationic lipopolymer (liposome-polyethylene glycol-polyethyleneimine complex [LPPC])-adjuvant that strongly adsorbs antigens or immunomodulators onto its surface to enhance or switch immune responses. The results demonstrate that LPPC enhances uptake ability, surface marker expression, proinflammatory cytokine release, and antigen presentation in mouse-phagocytes. In contrast to Freund's adjuvant, LPPC preferentially activates-Th1-immunity against antigens in vivo. With lipopolysaccharides or CpG oligodeoxynucleotides, LPPC dramatically enhances the IgA or IgG2A proportion of total Ig, even in hosts that have developed Th2 immunities and high IgG1 serum titers. Taken together, the results demonstrate that the LPPC adjuvant not only increases the immunogenicity of antigens but also modulates host immunity to produce an appropriate Ab isotype by combining with immunomodulators.
Rapid and sensitive detection of cancer cells by coupling with quantum dots and immunomagnetic separation at low concentrations
(2011-06-15)
Hsieh, Yi-Heui
;
Lai, Lee-Jene
;
Liu, Shih-Jen
;
Liang, Keng S.
;
電子物理學系
This work presents a rapid and sensitive method for detecting cancer cells at low concentration. In this method, two biomarkers of T-help cancer cells are detected simultaneously. One biomarker is conjugated with magnetic beads to separate T-help cell from the mixed cells and the other biomarker, associated with quantum dots, is used to detect fluorescence. The specific T-help cells can be quantified using the relationship between the QD fluorescence intensity and the cell frequency following magnetic separation. The intensity of fluorescence increases linearly with the frequency of T-help cells from 10(-7) to 10(-3), and neither B cells nor red blood cells interfere with the detection of T-help cells. Moreover, the total detection time is under 15 min, even though the frequency of specific T-help cells is as low as 5 x 10(-7). The numerous advantages of detecting specific cells at low concentration using the presented method include ease of preparation, low cost, fast detection, and high sensitivity. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.